Heat master art of Nellie’s ‘small ball’

It is fitting that Don Nelson was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame a couple of months after the Heat won the NBA championship while playing lineups that often excluded a center and had LeBron James playing power forward.

Nelson deserved his Hall enshrinement because of his coaching record (1,335 victories) and longevity alone, but his true basketball legacy is that of an innovator, especially as the father of “small ball.”

It was Nelson who made small ball both acceptable and popular. So if Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is being hailed as the father of the position-less offense, Nelson deserves recognition as its godfather.

Every team with legitimate championship aspirations, especially those in the Eastern Conference, must approach the 2012-13 season with an eye to adapting to Miami’s ultra-small-ball attack.

It’s what allowed the Heat to dominate the Thunder in the 2012 NBA Finals, and Miami’s commitment to spreading the court and playing from the perimeter was strengthened with the offseason acquisition of the league’s best pure shooter, Ray Allen. Adding Rashard Lewis, a 6-foot-10 3-point specialist, provided further evidence.

“The Heat obviously are the team to beat because they’re the champs,” TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal said. “(Club president Pat) Riley added shooters around LeBron James, and I still go back to what Mike Miller did in the Finals, hitting all those threes. So, kudos to Riley for putting more shooters around their great big men.”

In truth, the Heat don’t have a great true big man. Joel Anthony is the nominal starting center, but he averaged fewer than 20 minutes per game in the playoffs.

It’s the versatility of the 6-8, 240-pound James and, to a lesser extent, that of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, that makes Spoelstra’s position-less approach effective. Teammate Shane Battier has called James the team’s skeleton key, capable of opening any offensive door.

Some see Spoelstra’s genius as recognition of the need to fully leverage James’ unique combination of size, strength, quickness and skills.

“It’s not anything new, but it’s in vogue,” said one Eastern Conference executive. “It’s like the Navy blue blazer: It’s always been there, and it never goes out of style.

“Guys are just basketball players and no matter what, every offense is trying to get the ball to the player it wants to have the ball and every defense is trying to force the ball to the player it wants to have the ball.”

Not every elite team believes it has to match Miami’s versatility.

The Lakers traded oft-injured 7-footer Andrew Bynum for 7-foot Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard. Should they meet Miami in the 2013 Finals, some believe they can favorably match up against the Heat.

“The only way you can beat them is physically,” said Hall of Famer and TNT analyst Charles Barkley. “They’re a very small team. Oklahoma City can’t beat them, but the Lakers can.

“You can’t beat them on the perimeter — nobody is going to out-perimeter LeBron and Dwyane — but LeBron can’t stop Dwight and Pau (Gasol) down low and he might get in foul trouble trying to guard them.”